MMA? Rent a movie instead
CBS is killing MMA.
Without acronyms, the Columbia Broadcasting System is killing
Mixed Martial Arts.
On Saturday, CBS made so-called television history when they
broadcasted EliteXC in primetime, an MMA show where Kimbo Slice
headlined the main event (more on Mr. Slice later). This was kind
of a big deal for a network that houses the Ghost Whisperer and
some show called Jingles.
MMA? Rent a movie instead
CBS is killing MMA.
Without acronyms, the Columbia Broadcasting System is killing Mixed Martial Arts.
On Saturday, CBS made so-called television history when they broadcasted EliteXC in primetime, an MMA show where Kimbo Slice headlined the main event (more on Mr. Slice later). This was kind of a big deal for a network that houses the Ghost Whisperer and some show called Jingles.
CBS: Always catering to their audience.
I arrived home Saturday night to watch this specific event, unbeknownst to my girlfriend. Once my girlfriend was, well, knownst, EliteXC had to be forcibly Tivo’ed.
“We’re going to see a movie,” she said.
“You’re buying,” I responded.
I tried to explain to her EliteXC was the first MMA event on primetime network television. I tried to explain the American Dream-like rise of Kimbo Slice – or Kevin Ferguson, as he is more affectionately known. I tried to explain to her that the people of San Benito County must know how I feel on this MMA issue. I tried to explain to her that this was CBS’ chance to woo me, the casual MMA follower, to become an avid superfan.
Nope, she wasn’t buying it.
Ironman it was.
But through sound technology, I was able to view EliteXC on Tuesday for myself, after reading and overhearing pretty much everything that had happened.
I heard Slice got worked until he knocked the guy out in the third. I heard the best fight was the female bout. And fellow sports editor Josh Koehn even noted that his Tivo cut out before the Slice fight ever happened.
Great.
The verdict? Well, I’m still a casual MMA follower. In fact, I may just be a terribly casual MMA follower after viewing EliteXC. It wasn’t anything MMA did (although the sport can be so brutal at times that you actually have to be in a certain mood for ideal viewing), but CBS’ glitz and glam was reminiscent of NBC’ televised efforts of the XFL a few years back, and that worked out really well.
For those few fans who understand my increasingly obscure XFL reference – a reference that will only increase in obscurity with the continued downward trend of “He Hate Me” jokes – congrats. Although the ratings were strong, CBS failed to deliver on a sport that is seeking to become the Next Big Thing.
There were so many interviews, commercials, interviews and commercials that I was actually thrilled I recorded it and instead spent my evening watching a free movie. One fighter, Phil Baroni, actually took 10 minutes to get to the octagon. He thoroughly enjoyed his own loud music and his own hideous dancing, and I enjoyed that he lost in 1:11 to Joe Villasenor.
But the fights weren’t terrible. The female bout between Gina Carano and Kaitlin Young was pretty fantastic, while the welterweight fight between Scott Smith and Robbie Lawler was somewhat decent, until the fight ended when Smith was inadvertently poked in the eye.
As for Mr. Slice, well, I never did get to see his fight until I watched it, ironically, on YouTube. See, Slice, who somehow has an MMA main event with just two fights under his belt, worked his way up the popularity ladder by broadcasting his street brawls on YouTube.
Seeing him in action, he’s not very good. But then again, what did you expect from a guy who had two fights under his belt? A championship-caliber fighter who perhaps deserves a main event?
Although Slice won his fight, his bout ended rather prematurely when he opened up opponent James Thompson’s ear.
Of course, where CBS failed was when it made EliteXC into a WWE-like circus, with the interviews and the lights and the dead time. It failed when it couldn’t squeeze all its fights into the allotted three hours – even though the first two fights lasted a total of two minutes. So when the all-important main event concluded before it should have was perhaps a fitting, karmic way for the night to end.
In the future, here’s a tip: Just record the next network MMA show, fast-forward through all the interviews, and have your girlfriend treat you to a movie.
